Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: The Mortifications Author: Derek Palacio ISBN: 978-1-101-90569-2 Publisher: Tim Duggan Books Type of book: Cuba, breast cancer, broken family, Catholicism, nun, promises, secrets, memories, death Year it was published: 2016 Summary: Derek Palacio’s stunning, mythic novel marks the arrival of a fresh voice and a new chapter in the history of 21st century Cuban-American literature. In 1980, a rural Cuban family is torn apart during the Mariel Boatlift. Uxbal Encarnación—father, husband, political insurgent—refuses to leave behind the revolutionary ideals and lush tomato farms of his sun-soaked homeland. His wife Soledad takes young Isabel and Ulises hostage and flees with them to America, leaving behind Uxbal for the promise of a better life. But instead of settling with fellow Cuban immigrants in Miami’s familiar heat, Soledad pushes further north into the stark, wintry landscape of Hartford, Connecticut. There, in the long shadow of their estranged pat...